We’re Never Absolutely Certain, But We Really Don’t Need To Be

Descartes told us that the only thing of which we can be certain is that the statement “I exist” is true every time we pronounce it or conceive it in our minds.

In our real-world lives, however, no one needs absolute certainty.  I’m fairly confident that I’m sitting at my desk typing this blog post, though I concede it’s possible that I’m asleep dreaming it, or that I’m in a lab somewhere with mental images being electronically implanted into me.  However, I’m as certain as I need to be about my being here at 2GreenEnergy “headquarters,” typing away.

As suggested at left, those who believe that the Earth was created about 6000 years ago have a similar dilemma, only in reverse; they have chosen to believe something that seems, while not impossible, improbable in the extreme.